How to Restore Your Microsoft Surface RT Using a USB Recovery Drive

If your Microsoft Surface RT is experiencing issues or you want to sell it, you may need to restore it to its factory settings. One way to do this is by using a USB recovery drive. Here’s how to restore your Surface RT from a USB recovery drive:

Preparing Your Surface RT for Restoration

Before you begin, make sure to follow these steps:

• Shut down your Surface RT and plug it in to ensure it doesn’t run out of power during the restoration process.
• Create a USB recovery drive if you haven’t already. You can do this by following the instructions in the Microsoft Surface RT User Guide or by visiting the Microsoft Support website.

Restoring Your Surface RT from a USB Recovery Drive

Once you have your USB recovery drive ready, follow these steps to restore your Surface RT:

1. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on your Surface RT.
2. Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button.
3. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button.
4. Choose your language and keyboard layout.
5. From the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot.
6. From the Troubleshoot screen, select Reset your PC.
7. Select Next and then choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive, depending on your needs.
8. Select Reset to begin the restoration process.

Keep in mind that the restoration process may take some time, and your Surface RT may restart a few times during the process.

Removing the 32 GB Partition

If your USB recovery drive was larger than 32 GB, you may need to remove the 32 GB partition after the restoration process is complete. Here’s how:

1. Insert the USB recovery drive into your Surface RT.
2. Select Start > Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes.
3. Locate the partition labeled “RECOVERY” from the list of disks. This should be a FAT32 partition with an unallocated partition below it.
4. Select Properties and then select Delete > Delete volume.
5. Navigate back to Disks & volumes and select the unallocated volume.
6. Select Create volume > Create Simple Volume and follow the prompts on the screen.

By following these steps, you can restore your Microsoft Surface RT to its factory settings using a USB recovery drive and remove the 32 GB partition if necessary.